


Who You Gonna Call?

by Araloth



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Boyfriends, Cute, Date Night, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Family Feels, Fluff, M/M, Massage, New Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2019-09-30
Packaged: 2020-11-08 13:41:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20836409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Araloth/pseuds/Araloth
Summary: Eddie has to update the emergency contact numbers for Christopher's school, and wants to ask Buck, he's just worried it might be too soon in their relationship.





	Who You Gonna Call?

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write something fun while waiting for tonight's episode, and when this idea popped into my head I couldn't resist. :)

“Have a good day at school!” Eddie waved after Christopher. Christopher was already climbing up the steps, joining up with a couple of other kids Eddie recognized from Christopher’s class, but he still took a moment to stop and wave back at Eddie, smiling wide. Eddie smiled back. He never got tired of seeing how happy Christopher was here. Eddie couldn’t thank Buck and Carla enough for helping him set it all up. Eddie watched Christopher head inside with his friends, then Eddie started the short walk back across the parking lot to his truck. He was just opening the door to climb in when he heard someone calling his name behind him.

“Mr. Diaz!”

Eddie turned back around to see the school’s principal jogging down the steps toward him, her heels clicking over the pavement. Eddie closed the door of his truck again and frowned.

“I’m so glad I caught you.” The principal smiled a little breathlessly.

“Is everything okay?” Eddie asked.

"Oh of course." The principal smiled and brushed her hair back a little.

“So Christopher’s… Eddie trailed off.

The principal smiled wider. “Everyone loves Christopher. We’re so happy he’s a part of our school.”

Eddie nodded slowly, glad to hear the principal say it, but still not sure why she’d wanted to talk to him in the first place.

“I wanted-“ The principal hesitated. “I just wanted to offer you our condolences on behalf of myself, and the entire school. We haven’t spoken since…” She cleared her throat awkwardly. “…I’m sure losing Christopher’s mother must have been very hard…”

It had been almost four months now since Shannon’s funeral. Eddie had served in a warzone, and encountered dangers daily with the LAFD, but having to tell Christopher that his mother was gone and that this time she wasn't coming back had been one of the scariest and hardest things Eddie had ever done. Eddie tried to stay strong around Christopher, but when he’d found that note Shannon had written all the emotions he’d fought to keep in check had just come pouring out. Eddie wasn’t sure how he’d have coped without Buck. Buck, who even while going through struggles with extra surgeries, and physical therapy, had made a point to be there for Christopher and Eddie. Eddie smiled. While his relationship with Buck might almost seem hasty on the surface, Eddie really felt he and Buck had been dancing towards it ever since they met- even if neither one of them had realized right away. And at the end of the day, Buck made Eddie happy- and more importantly, he made Chris happy.

"Thank you," Eddie said, finally responding to the principal. “It’s been tough but we’re managing. We’ve had a lot of help.”

"I'm so glad to hear that." The principal hesitated again for a second and then reached into her bag. "I-well I wanted to talk to you about some of your paperwork. We like to keep our records as up to date as possible, and in Christopher's file the emergency contact in case the school couldn't get a hold of you was…"

“Shannon.” Eddie finished. He added her name to the forms not that long after Christmas.

The principal nodded. "Right. We didn't want to bother you with something like this earlier, but given the nature of your job…"

"No, I understand…" Eddie took the file from her and flipped to the last page in the folder. There was a blank spot tabbed at the bottom right under Eddie’s name. Eddie closed the folder again and tapped it against his open palm. “I’ll uh- I’ll get this back to you soon.”

“Thank you. We’d appreciate having everything updated as soon as you’re able.” The principal smiled again, already stepping back towards the school. “Have a nice day Mr. Diaz.”

Eddie nodded back and climbed into his truck. 

The papers stayed with him all day during his shift. Not literally of course- the folder was stuck inside the glove compartment of his truck- but Eddie couldn’t stop thinking about it. Emergency contact… in some ways, the obvious answer should be Eddie's family. His aunt and his grandmother both lived in the city still and adored Christopher. But Eddie’s grandmother didn’t really drive anymore, and LA was a big city. If anything ever happened, who knows how long it might take her to get across town to Chris’ school. Eddie’s aunt Josephina lived a little closer, but she had a full-time job of her own, and a schedule that could be as wild as Eddie’s. Plus the school already had her number… if they needed to get in touch with her they already could.

Eddie considered asking Carla for a little bit. She knew Christopher and had the kind of medical knowledge that might be useful if something serious ever happened. Eddie shuddered. Just thinking about Christopher getting hurt like that makes him anxious. Eddie was sure Carla would agree too, but she has her own family to look after. Not to mention the demands of her job sometimes made it difficult for her to leave work. Eddie wouldn’t want to put her in a difficult position after everything she’d done for him and Christopher.

It was a good thing they don’t get any serious calls today because Eddie’s head was just not in it. He did everything he needed to do, but he could barely remember the calls afterward. He just kept thinking about the forms. About what it would actually mean if Eddie was out on a call and something happened- to him or to Chris. Or about who he’d want making decisions for Chris if Eddie couldn’t be there to do it himself. When all you do for a living is help other people through their emergencies how do you plan for your own? Eddie sighed. Really Eddie knew exactly who he wanted to put down on the form. The only challenge would be convincing him to sign it…

***

“I’ve got pizza!” Buck announced loudly as he carefully maneuvered the boxes he carried around Eddie’s front door.

Christopher cheered. “Pizza!”

"Oh, hoh- yeah." Eddie laughed. He smiled over at Buck, barely resisting the urge to kiss him. Eddie and Buck had both agreed that for now at least, they'd keep the change in their relationship status a secret from Christopher. Everything was still so new, Eddie and Buck wanted a little time to enjoy it for themselves and figure things out, before they told more of their family and friends, though Eddie knew Christopher for one, would probably be ecstatic. "C'mon in Buck, I'll grab the plates…"

Buck set the pizza boxes down in the middle of the dining room table and bent over to hug Christopher. "How are you little man?"

“Good.” Christopher beamed. “Dad said we can watch movies while we eat.”

"Really?" Buck grinned. "Well, you better pick some good ones then huh?"

Christopher nodded solemnly.

Eddie smiled at the two of them as he watched Chris head over to the TV and start assessing his options. Buck grabbed a plate from Eddie and stacked it up with two big slices of pepperoni pizza. “You want a beer?” Eddie asked.

Buck nodded, cheese dangling from his lips down to his plate as he savored his first bite. “Sure.”

Eddie passed him one and grabbed another plate. “Chris you want pepperoni or cheese?”

“Cheese!”

Eddie pulled out a piece of cheese and a breadstick and walked the plate over to Christopher. Buck followed Eddie over to the couch, carrying a second plate of pizza with pepperoni and hot peppers on it for Eddie. Buck slid down onto the couch, balancing his pizza and his beer in his lap.

“So what are we watching?” Buck asked Eddie quietly as Christopher pressed play.

"No idea." Eddie laughed. "I pulled up the kid's options and just let him go wild." Eddie leaned over and grabbed Buck's leg, pulling it up so Buck could stretch it out across Eddie. Buck had been to another round of physical therapy that afternoon and had his ankle and part of his thigh wrapped uptight still.

“You sure you’re comfortable like that?” Buck asked around another mouthful of pizza.

“Positive.” Eddie patted Buck’s knee gently. “How’d it go today?” Eddie asked quietly. Christopher was sitting down on a chair closer to the TV, but the movie was already starting and Eddie wanted to make sure he wasn’t talking over it.

"Eh…" Buck shrugged. "Alright, I guess. It's just taking so much longer than I want it to you know?"

"You'll get there," Eddie said firmly. “I know you will.”

“Yeah…” Buck sighed. He shifted a little so he was facing Eddie more than the TV, and winced a little as his leg cramped up.

Eddie set his plate down on the small table next to him, and ran his hands over Buck’s sore leg. “Still tight?”

Buck nodded bashfully. “I may have over did it a bit today…”

There was no surprise there. Eddie rolled his eyes but smiled at Buck fondly. Carefully, Eddie unwound the wrap Buck had on his leg and started working the muscle with his fingers.

“Whaaa-mm…” Buck trailed off, his question shifting to a small sigh of pleasure as Eddie started to massage his leg. “That feels really good…” Buck closed his eyes a little. “Where did you learn to do this?”

"One of the guys I was stationed with overseas was married to a massage therapist," Eddie said as he focused a little more pressure on Buck's strained muscles. "He taught us all a few tricks to feel better after a full day of marching around in the desert."

“Mmm…” Buck sighed happily. Christopher looked back over his shoulder at them grinning, and Buck smiled back. “Your dad’s pretty awesome isn’t he?”

Christopher nodded. “Yeah.”

The first movie ended after awhile, and Christopher set up another. Eddie got up to get everyone more pizza, plus another glass of milk for Chris and some water for Buck. Honestly, Eddie couldn't have said much about either of the movies. He was pretty sure one was set in space? He followed along for bits and pieces, but mostly he just kept being struck by how good it felt to just be spending a night in like this with Christopher and Buck. The forms for Chris' school were stashed in Eddie's desk for now. As much as he wanted to ask Buck, Eddie knew it would feel like a big step. Eddie didn't want to pressure Buck to do anything or add to his already full plate in anyway while he was still recovering, but the school did say they needed the forms back as soon as possible…

Before long the second movie had ended too, and Christopher was yawning in his chair. "Alright, little man-" Eddie stood up and grabbed Christopher's empty glass and plate for him. "Time to brush your teeth and get ready for bed…"

Christopher frowned. “Could we read a story before bed?”

"A story?" Eddie laughed. "Alright, I think we can do that…"

Christopher grinned. "I want Buck to do it. He does better voices."

"Oh really?" Eddie cocked an eyebrow and shot Buck an amused look. "Well, you'll have to ask him, Chris…"

“Can you?” Chris beamed at Buck wide eyed.

“Sure.” Buck smiled back. “You go get ready and I’ll be right back okay?”

Christopher nodded and bounded down the hall towards his bedroom.

Eddie snorted, shaking his head as he watched Christopher go. “I guess I’m just not good enough anymore.”

“Don’t worry,” Buck smirked. “I’ll let you read me a story later. Maybe we can work on your from.”

Eddie double-checked that Christopher couldn’t see, then flipped Buck off. Buck burst out laughing.

“So sensitive…”

“Go,” Eddie nodded back towards Christopher’s room. “I know when I’m not wanted.”

Buck was grinning all the way down the hall. Eddie could hear bits and pieces of whatever Christopher had picked out for Buck to read- probably a comic book from the sounds of things. Eddie grinned; Buck really did go all out. Eddie shook his head as laughter bubbled out of Chris’ room. He was glad Chris and Buck were both enjoying themselves. Eddie’s eyes caught on the desk again. He sighed and pulled the forms out.

Buck came back out of Chris' room a couple of minutes later, turning the lights off behind him. "What's that?" Buck asked, nodding at the forms still in Eddie's hands.

“Some forms for Christopher’s school.” Eddie sighed.

“Should we call Carla again?” Buck asked, concern evident in his voice. “I’m sure if there’s some kind of problem she can-“

Eddie smiled a little nervously. “It’s nothing like that.”

“Oh.” Buck frowned, but he was clearly pretty relived too. “Than what are they for?”

“Emergency contact numbers…” Eddie scratched the back of his head, not quite ready to meet Buck’s eyes. “Since Shannon and I were still married she was Christopher’s second primary contact…”

"Oh," Buck said again, a little more quietly this time.

“Yeah…” Eddie took a deep breath, and just dove right in. “And I know it’s a lot to ask, especially while everything with us is still so new, but if something happened and I wasn’t available than I want to make sure the school has someone I know I can trust there, and someone who cares about Chris and that he trusts-“

“You’re asking me?”

Eddie finally looked up at Buck again, searching for any sign of what he might have been thinking. “Yeah.”

“Okay.”

“I know it’s a lot to-“ Eddie broke off. “Wait, what did you say?”

“Okay.” Buck smiled softly.

"Buck I mean it, I know this is a lot," Eddie said slowly. "I don’t want you to feel like you have to-“

“I want to.” Buck walked over closer to Eddie, his smile turning a little sheepish. “I kind of like knowing you trust me to look after him…”

"I never even questioned that," Eddie said firmly. "If something happened to Chris and I wasn't there, there's nobody else I'd want more looking after him.”

“So uh-“ Buck smiled wider. “Where do I sign?”

Eddie kissed him and turned the forms around so Buck could read them. "Right here."

_In case of emergency:_ Eddie watched as Buck scrawled down his name and number, tension Eddie hadn't even realized he was carrying crumbling away like dried leaves. Whatever happened now, whatever crazy call Eddie might be on if something happened to Chris and Eddie couldn't get there things would be okay. Eddie smiled. He knew Chris would always be safe with Buck.


End file.
